The Orion will not be endorsing a particular candidate. It is our opinion that the Chico State student body is fortunate to have five passionate, dedicated and intelligent candidates to choose from for the next Associated Students president.
All candidates were presented with the same set of questions. What we chose to present here are the responses that we feel are most useful to educating potential voters on the nature of each candidate and their platform.
The candidates are presented in the order that they were interviewed based on availability.
On their priorities should they be elected:
Adin White: White would like to “use the power of the platform and the power of our community to create leverage for students in the decision-making process.”
He noted that it is difficult to understand some of the context within which administrative choices are being made, especially concerning the restructuring of academic affairs.
“I think what we need right now are an AS president and AS board that are really focused on being a voice for the students, and a powerhouse behind getting student representation way more commonplace than it is right now.”
Tia Saunders: “My main priorities would be better campus resources, things like academic support, tutoring, office hours and financial aid transparency, simply to improve things that will help students succeed inside and outside of the classroom.”
She would like to focus on expanding campus-wide mental health resources, including easier access to free counseling services and increased support for the student counseling training center.
“My other thing would be inclusivity for all, to make sure every student feels welcome and supported and to create a campus that uplifts the underrepresented communities and provides resources for all people.”
Matthew Hernandez: “My priorities would be advocating for better campus wide connection, and also for the ethical use of AI, and implementing artificial intelligence into campus resources.” He noted the many valid concerns with how AI could potentially harm the educational process, but that it can be implemented effectively “with proper procedures and protocols in place.”
“I would also aim to improve security. A lot of [students] have safety concerns, particularly with lighting around campus, so I would aim to improve that as well.”
David Nguiffo: “My priorities would be quite foundational. From all the students I’ve interviewed, I’ve noticed that there’s a significant gap between the student government and the student body. Most of the students did not even know that the student government existed, and a lot of them have told me that the student government never reached out to them to ask their input on issues that pertain to life on campus. But it is the responsibility and the mission of the student government to represent the students, to amplify their voices. But you cannot amplify what you cannot hear, so my goal would be to put in place a system that will capture the voices of the students, so we can amplify them.”
Cole Militano: Militano said that his priorities have shifted some after speaking with students over the last couple weeks.
“Originally, I’d say it was the broader pieces like tuition and reengaging the administration on the tuition increases that are happening every year. On top of that, I want us to have more mental health counselors. I want sustainability to be a priority again for the campus…I feel like sustainability, mental health, tuition, housing affordability and diversity, equity and inclusion is an entire set of things that really keep students on campus.”
On challenges facing the student body:
Adin White: He said that students will eventually face serious challenges “due to federal legislation and all its trickle-down effects, including the loss of various rights.”
“Campuses are uniquely positioned to act as a sort of bastion for some of these rights that are at stake right now, but the degree to which that’s the case depends on everyone coming together to create this as a culture and space for freedom of expression and thought.”
Tia Saunders: “I think one of the biggest things will end up being the budget cuts, and mainly this issue that we have with the reimagining taking place with the provost and how people feel about how it’s being shared and how it’s being put together.”
“A part of the deficit that’s coming has to do with the loss of students, the lack of retention as well as [lower] enrollment. I think that by showing students how to use the resources that they have at this institution that they pay for, where those resources are at, and how to make them work for them. I think that would make students want to stay and it will make students want to come because they see what it’s doing for current students.”
Matthew Hernandez: “The biggest concern I’ve seen, I’ve been to town halls and talked to hundreds of students over the last month, and they’re concerned about budget.”
He noted the changes regarding educational funding coming from the federal government and what that could mean for students.
“I know President Perez has been doing a lot of work to try and make sure that students don’t feel the impact so heavily [of potential budget cuts]. I would be working with President Perez as well as the newly elected VP of finance to see what we can do.”
David Nguiffo: “I think the main challenge will be the merging of some of the colleges. I was talking to one student today and she was quite concerned about that merging. She was telling me that she doesn’t believe that all students are being taken into consideration and are in the dark regarding the merging.”
“[Students] might start doubting the administration. I hope that doesn’t happen, but they might not feel that the administration has their best interests, and that might cause enrollment to go down.”
Cole Militano: The biggest issues Militano sees are “the budget and making things affordable for students…the knowledge that our campus is facing such a budget crisis is very cumbersome on even the students, knowing that we don’t have that type of security that other colleges do.”
“I do see some ability and chance for the AS to assist the college as a whole, the administration even, and I feel like in doing so that will really open the table to allow us to ask for things that we are interested in accomplishing as students.”
On the experience that has prepared them for the AS presidency:
Adin White: “I’ve worked within AS [Commissioner of Sustainability Affairs] as well as working within dozens of student groups and organizations as a member or an officer.”
He noted that through his research regarding the systemwide Time, Place and Manner (free speech) policy he has “gained familiarity with the levels of governance, and how the systems and bureaucracies that affects us that we all feel but couldn’t necessarily name.”
He said that research like that is part of what he characterized as his “obsession with understanding the context.”
Tia Saunders: “Right now, I work at the black resource center. We look at the resources that the school has and then we look at the population of students that we are helping and what they need and then we make sure that we are able to guide them to the resource, help them learn how to use it, know where it’s at and know what it can do for them in the long run.”
“I’m also the BSS senator where I work with concerns that students have within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. I have frequent meetings with the dean on how we can make things better.”
Matthew Hernandez: “I’ve served as president and co-president of Latinos in Technical Careers, a professional development organization here on campus. I am pretty involved in a lot of multicultural organizations and resources on campus, like El Centro.”
“I’ve served as team leads for multiple technical clubs where we have to oversee a project from start to finish. So, I’ve always been involved in leadership, and I always make it a priority to do my best…I’ve been very dedicated to anything that I’ve been a part of these last three years on campus.”
David Nguiffo: “I think I’ve always been a calming voice. In previous years, I’ve been the captain of the soccer team, and we also had our share of challenges, and I was responsible for calming my guys…so I think I know how to create trust with people because I know how to connect with them on deep levels.”
“My previous experience is going to help me, in this tumultuous time, to bring comfort and trust to the students, because they know that I’m voicing their opinions to the administration.’
Cole Militano: Militano served as the AS president and Legislative Affairs Director at Butte college during the 23-24 school year and served in the military before beginning his secondary education. “I do understand the way board meeting, committees, councils are held, and the way that they’re structured, and I know how to navigate that…I feel like now I have the ability to act in a much more professional way, and in a better way that builds those relationships and strengthens them as opposed to deteriorate them trying to advocate in a negative way. I was really trying to hold the campus accountable and that was not going down the best way. Administration has a lot of power. So, you actually have to work with them as opposed to beating them down.”
On their plans to ensure that all groups on campus are heard and represented:
Adin White: “I will go out and be engaged and meet directly with groups and find out what they want out of college, and invite them to the decisions making tables…[the AS President] requires the support of the underrepresented and marginalized, because they are the ones who have the most to lose. I don’t want to be a figure head; I want to be a foot in the door. I want to find out what they want and then to bring them where they need to go if they’re having trouble getting there.”
Tia Saunders: “I personally come from a few underrepresented groups, so I think that helps in general, having that personal experience. So, not only wanting to advocate for other students, but knowing how it feels to have to advocate for myself.”
“For other people, it might be easier to feel comfortable with me because they know that I may have experienced something like they have, or that I understand what it’s like to have to go the extra mile.”
Matthew Hernandez: “One thing is simply walking around campus during the day, asking if students could spare a couple minutes while I walk with them, and just talk with them. What concerns do they see around, or if they are not generally aware I would raise ideas that I have. Do they think this would help to bring more awareness around campus?”
Hernandez said he has also spent time visiting the offices of all the colleges on campus, “The best way I can do that is going in person, saying hi and hearing what they have to say…I would want to get the opinions of as many students as I can, as well as make sure that they’re seen, heard and valued.”
David Nguiffo: “I’m planning to partner with the computer science department to create an app, because honestly I don’t think emails work anymore.” According to Nguiffo, the app would periodically ask students to share how they feel about a specific issue as well as providing another means of sharing information with students. “So, the communication would be more individual and more personal…so we’ll be able to get input from every single student. We’ll be able to weigh their input, with the data, observe what the students are saying, and make a recommendation based on that.”
Cole Militano: Militano said that he was originally focused on broader issues, but through speaking with students recently, he has realized that they are often focused on issues specific to their circumstances. He wants to continue to approach students in their specific spaces to hear all their concerns. “After talking with students and getting a lot of feedback through social media, LinkedIn, whatever it may be, they’ve all voiced concerns about these very micro issues that I feel like are also super important…I’m talking about the club and organization level, as well as their individual ethnicity, race, religion. I’m seeing a lot of different attacks in a lot of different sectors.”
On their perception of the current college administration:
Adin White: “It’s very difficult to understand the context within which their decisions are being made. The student representation, within the reimagining or pretty much any budget related group on campus, is minimal at best.”
He noted that policy issues often go higher than the local level and can be passed down by groups like the Chancellor’s Office. “I think that whoever is president needs to have an insatiable desire to understand how these things work.”
Tia Saunders: “I think at times; they could be stuck a bit in an old-fashioned way of communicating. In relation to the reimagining issue, email was the mail form of communication and there is a website, but it wasn’t easy to navigate, and students didn’t know a lot about it.”
“I think Steve Perez is very active as a CSU president, I think the provost has tried to put effort into getting student opinion, but I think that where they could all do better is by truly taking that opinion and turning it into actionable items that both they and AS can take.”
Matthew Hernandez: “I think they’ve been doing a great job of having an overall presence on campus. I’ve seen them a lot around campus this past academic year, and that’s great. They should be seen on campus a lot.”
Regarding the budgetary issues the administration is currently working on, Hernandez said, “When you have a budget deficit like that which you’re potentially going into, you have to be overly honest. There’s no way to get around it. You have to be honest. What do we need and what do the students want? Overall, as [AS] president you have to represent the students in every decision that you make. That’s your whole priority.”
David Nguiffo: “I’m not running for an administration position…I really have more recommendations for the student government. I think they’re doing great at connecting with the administration, but there’s really a gap between the student government and the student body. So, I plan to bridge that gap so I can really give the information to the administration about what students really want, because I believe that the administration does not know what the students want.”
“Once they know what they students want, once they make their decisions, I’ll be able to hold them accountable, because I can say that the students wanted that, but you did something else. Why is that the case?”
Cole Militano: “I hate the idea of politics playing such a huge role in the college. I feel like everything should be transparent. I think everything should play out seamlessly and be available to students to really see what the hell is going on.” He said it is important to hear and appreciate the administration perspective as well, but that “once they start talking politically, I feel like they’re not going to give me any real answers. So, encouraging transparency in that field is also important.”
“I’m really interested to see the power [the administrations] gives to students on councils and committees in particular. One credit I will give to Butte College is that they did allow students to sit at high positions within committees and boards.”
Candidates were given time at the end of the interview to add whatever they would like:
Adin White: “Corporatization is the nature of the beast, it’s the nature of the country, the ethos, the culture, all the institutions that are a part of it because money is what keeps the lights on for the university and for the AS, but that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. We don’t have to accept that as a reason for the egregious lack of transparency and this frustrating lack of student representation. It’s not time to lay down and accept those responses that ‘it’s complicated or it’s budgetary pressure’ even if that’s not an untrue statement, and even if there are many bureaucratic walls in the way.”
Tia Saunders: “It is our job to make sure that student concerns are our concerns…I’m not going to take any kind of personal route, I’m going to do what the general public wants.”
“For me, I want to directly help the students that are not only here right now, but that are going to come. I want to make sure students feel like everything they’re paying for on campus is something that they can find, use and know how it can help them overall…How can we make Chico a place that people want to come to again? I want to get back to Chico State feeling like one of those places that students really want to be.”
Matthew Hernandez: “When I commit to something I commit to it fully, and I’m very passionate and dedicated about everything I’m involved in. It’s what made me want to run for AS president, because of my love and passion for the university.”
“I’ve chatted with President Perez on multiple occasions and he’s told me about his vision for the university and I believe we share a lot of the same vision, that we think the university can be one of the best in the world for anything, and with such a big vision like that, you have to have someone who can take the leadership experience very, very seriously.”
David Nguiffo: “I want people to know that I’m still the same simple guy they see around, me running for president doesn’t change that, so please keep approaching me, keep connecting with me. I enjoy that…I also want them to know that I’m really here for them. I’m not doing this for anything else except for the joy of serving them, the joy of knowing that I gave my all for the most misunderstood student, the most brave, the most misrepresented, all of them. I want them to know that I’m here for them. And most importantly, I want them to know that I’ll fight for them. I’ll fight for their voices to be heard so together we can build the foundation that the next generation will stand upon and do incredible things we’ve never dreamed of.”
Cole Militano: “I don’t know everything, and I really want to go into the role with humility. At my position at Butte College, I learned a lot and I’d say that when I first started I was very pig-headed and I thought that everything I was saying or doing was the right way to go about things…but I think it really comes down to acknowledging that everyone on the board is students and really, in all actuality, kids. We’re all trying to get an education and learn how to be leaders, and so am I. I’m still learning what that means. So, I’m going to stay humble and I’m going to try to learn… and I really will lean on student feedback.”
Sean Shanks can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
